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MotoGP Assen: Petrucci leads Zarco in first session

Octo Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci has topped the opening MotoGP free practice session at Assen this morning, leading class rookie Johann Zarco by a little over a tenth of a second as the top 17 riders were covered by just one second.

Petrucci set a 1’34.680 on his penultimate lap but suffered a blown engine as he returned to the pits which mirrored a problem for factory Ducati man Andrea Dovizioso, whose GP17 engine also went bang at the start of the period, dropping oil at the back of the track which resulted in crashes for Jonas Folger and Jorge Lorenzo, and a red flag.

Zarco, who was out on the samne soft/soft tyre combination as Petrucci, put in a 1’34.806 to just edge out Britain’s Cal Crutchlow by 0.016s. The LCR Honda man didn’t look happy with something as he went back to his garage despite securing his next two years in the sport with an HRC contract.

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Dovizioso ended fourth and was on his second bike equipped with soft tyres all round to set a 1’34.829 with Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi putting his chassis upgrade to good use, putting in a 1’34.821 on soft tyres to bag fifth with his final effort.

Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone - who is adamant he is staying with the team next season - finished in sixth place and is just 0.234s off the pace and ahead of Dani Pedrosa’s Repsol Honda. The tiny Spaniard is the last man in the 1’34s and only 0.022s behind Iannone.

Jonas Folger, who grazed his hip in the crash, was in top spot with five minutes left but slipped down to eighth. However, the German was out on a medium rear tyre so has some time in hand when he puts in a soft tyre this afternoon.

Jorge Lorenzo ended in ninth place with Pull and Bear Ducati’s Karel Abraham in tenth. Jack Miller was on the pace with five minutes to go but ended up in 11th. However, the Marc VDS rider is only half a second in arrears and one place ahead of Maverick Vinales.

The series leader was uncharacteristically on the same set of soft tyres for the entire session, putting in his best of 1’35.263 on his 13th lap of 22 while Marc Marquez adopted the same strategy but went with a medium rear to set a 1’35.282 for 13th. The top 15 was completed by Scott Redding and Alvaro Bautista.

Sam Lowes ended in 22nd while Bradley Smith, who is returning from injury, was 23rd.

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